Method and apparatus for selecting a supplemental product to offer for sale during a transaction

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, a supplemental product or service may be offered to a user during a transaction, either in addition to products and/or services the user is purchasing, or as a replacement to one or more of the products and/or services that the user is purchasing. The functionality may be implemented, for example, in a retail embodiment where a user is purchasing products and/or services at a cash register or other point-of-sale terminal. One or more embodiments may be implemented online where a user is purchasing products and/or services using a computer, terminal, telephone or other client or user device and accessing a World Wide Web site, online catalog, interactive voice response unit or system, etc.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/365,629 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTING A SUPPLEMENTALPRODUCT TO OFFER FOR SALE DURING A TRANSACTION, filed Feb. 4, 2009;which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/603,677filed Jun. 26, 2000, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,542,919 on Jun. 2,2009.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/603,677 claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/190,818 entitled METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR PROCESSING SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCT SALES, filed Mar. 21, 2000.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/603,677 also is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/920,116entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCT SALES ATA POINT-OF-SALE TERMINAL, filed Aug. 26, 1997 and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 6,119,099 on Sep. 12, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/822,709 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORPERFORMING LOTTERY TICKET TRANSACTIONS UTILIZING POINT-OF-SALETERMINALS, filed Mar. 21, 1997 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,670 onJul. 31, 2001.

Each of the above-referenced applications is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus forconducting a transaction and, more particularly, to a method andapparatus for selecting one or more supplemental products or services tooffer for sale to a customer during a transaction.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Most stores or merchants that are visited by customers have one or morepoint-of-sale terminals, such as cash registers. Store cashiers andcheck out clerks often use point-of-sale terminals for calculating thetotal price of a purchase for one or more products and/or services andthe amount of change due to a customer. Some point-of-sale terminalstrack purchases made and adjust a database of stored inventoryaccordingly.

In many situations, a merchant may desire to offer to sell a customer oruser a product or service in addition to the product(s) and/orservice(s) being purchased by the customer or as a replacement for oneof the product(s) and/or service(s) being purchased by the customerwhile the customer is shopping at the merchant or shopping on-line via amerchant's World Wide Web site. Some prior art transaction systemsexist. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,513 issued to Katz et al.discloses a method and apparatus for effecting commercial transactionsat remote locations over communications networks and for selecting andoffering an upsell transaction.

Unfortunately, despite the state of the art in point-of-sale and on-linetransaction systems, there remains a need for a customer independentmethod and apparatus for conducting transactions for products andservices and for determining a supplemental product or service to offera customer during a transaction, either in addition to the productsand/or services the customer is purchasing or as a replacement to one ormore of the products and/or services that the customer is purchasing.The supplemental product selected may be based on the products orservices that the customer is currently purchasing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and apparatus for conducting transactions for products andservices and to provide a method and apparatus for selecting asupplemental product or service to offer a user during a transaction,either in addition to the products and/or services the user ispurchasing or as a replacement to one or more of the products and/orservices that the user is purchasing.

Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the inventionshall be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in partwill become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Theobjects and the advantages may be realized and attained by means of theinstrumentalities and in combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with thepurposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly describedherein, a method for conducting a transaction includes receivinginformation for a transaction, determining a pool of at least onesupplemental product, scoring at least one supplemental product in thepool, selecting a supplemental product from the pool for thetransaction, and providing an indication of the supplemental productselected from the pool. The supplemental product may be an additionalsupplemental product or a replacement supplemental product. In someembodiments, selecting the supplemental product may include selecting atleast one supplemental product from the pool based on the scores. Thescoring of supplemental products may use a profit based scoringapproach, a popularity based scored approach, a discount scoringapproach, or some other scoring approach. Selection of a supplementalproduct may also be based on other criteria, such as the preparationtime for products, the amount or number of one or more products ininventory, marketing and/or consumer research information, or a“collaborative filter” which incorporates one or more of the otherapproaches.

Also to achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance withthe purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly describedherein, an apparatus for conducting a transaction includes a memory, acommunication port, and a processor connected to the memory and thecommunication port, the processor being operative to receive informationfor a transaction, determine a pool of at least of supplemental product,score at least one supplemental product in the pool, select at least onesupplemental product from the pool for the transaction, and provide anindication of the at least one supplemental product selected from thepool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, and together with the descriptions serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a method in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of system components for an embodiment of anapparatus usable with the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the select supplemental product(s) step ofthe method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the select product from pool step of FIG. 3usable in embodiments during which a supplemental product is added tothe products involved in a transaction;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the select product from pool step of FIG. 3usable in embodiments during which a supplemental product replaces aproduct involved in a transaction;

FIG. 6 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating food products purchased during a transaction usingthe method of FIGS. 1, 3, and 4;

FIG. 7 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating groups for the food products illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is another tabular representation of a possible data structurefor a record illustrating product groups and complementary productcategories for the food products illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating product groups and complementary product categoriesfor the food products illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating an offer amount determined for the food productsillustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating possible additional supplemental products andassociated costs for the food products illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is table illustrating possible replacement supplemental productsand associated replacement costs for food products in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a table illustrating possible replacement supplementalproducts and associated replacement costs for the food productsillustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating the use of profit based scoring for the determinescores for products in poll step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating the use of popularity based scoring for thedetermine scores for products in poll step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 16 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating the use of discount based scoring for the determinescores for products in poll step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 17 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for arecord illustrating the use of profit based, popularity based, anddiscount based scoring for the determine scores for products in pollstep of FIG. 3;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a representative controller orpoint-of-sale terminal of FIG. 2;

FIG. 19 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for theproduct database of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for theuser database of FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is a tabular representation of a possible data structure for thetransaction database of FIG. 18; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a representative user device ofFIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A first embodiment 100 of a method in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The method 100 allows auser or other customer, controller, point-of-sale terminal, etc. toconduct a transaction for the purchase of one or more products and/orservices, during which a supplemental product or service is offered forsale to a user during a transaction, the supplemental product beingeither in addition to the products and/or services the user ispurchasing or as a replacement to one or more of the products and/orservices that the user is purchasing. The method 100 may be implementedin a retail embodiment where a user is purchasing products and/orservices at a cash register or other point-of-sale terminal. The method100 may also be implemented in an online embodiment where a user ispurchasing products and/or services using a computer, terminal,telephone or other client or user device and accessing a World Wide Website, online catalog, interactive voice response unit or system, etc.

The method 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a step 102 during whichtransaction information is received by a controller, point-of-saleterminal, user device, or other device, regarding a user's purchase orattempted purchase of one or more products and/or services. For purposesof simplicity of explanation and claiming of the present invention, asused herein, the term “product” will be used to refer to any of atangible item, good, product, a service, a coupon offer, a lotteryticket or fractional lottery ticket, etc. The method 100 also includes astep 104 during which a selection is made, either by a controller,point-of-sale terminal, user device, etc. of one or more supplementalproducts to offer for sale to the user. The supplemental product(s) maybe in addition to the product(s) being purchased by the user or inreplacement of one or more products being purchased by the user. Duringa step 106, an indication or message of the supplemental productselection made during the step 104 is provided or indicated to a user,user device, controller, point-of-sale terminal, or other device. Theindication or message provided during the step 106 may also includeinformation regarding the price of the supplemental product chosenduring the step 104, the amount of time a user or customer has toindicate a willingness to purchase the supplemental product chosenduring the step 104, the amount of time a user or customer has toindicate or provide a payment identifier (e.g., a credit card, afrequent shopper card, smart card, etc.) to purchase the supplementalproduct chosen during the step 104, where and how the supplementalproduct chosen during the step 104 may be obtained or received,descriptive information of the supplemental product chosen during thestep 104, etc. The method 100 and the steps 102, 104, 106 will bediscussed in additional detail below.

In some embodiments of the method 100, the price to a user for asupplemental product may be based in whole or in part on an amount ofchange due a customer during a transaction. The amount of change due acustomer during a transaction is the difference between a purchase pricefor the product(s) being purchased by the customer and an amounttendered by the customer. Customers typically tender whole number cashamounts in the form of bills of paper money, while purchase prices aremost often non-whole number amounts. Accordingly, the amount of changedue to a customer at a point-of-sale terminal typically includes one ormore coins, which the point-of-sale terminal or cashier dispenses to thecustomer. In some embodiments, a price for a supplemental product may bebased on a portion of the change due to a customer or on a largerrounding amount (e.g., the amount of change needed to make the totalcustomer price for a transaction equal to five dollars, equal to tendollars, etc.)

A significant advantage of the method 100 for a retailer is that theretailer may be able to entice or convince a customer to purchase anadditional or replacement supplemental product, thereby increasingincremental sales made by the retailer. One type of replacementsupplemental product is an upgrade supplemental product. For example, acustomer buying shoes, pants, and a shirt from a retailer might beconvinced to purchase matching socks and ties as additional supplementalproducts, thereby increasing the sales made by the retailer.Alternatively, the retailer might convince the customer to purchase adifferent pair of shoes as a replacement supplemental product or abetter pair of shoes as an upgrade replacement product.

A retailer using the method 100 may generate additional opportunities tosell products to customers that are perishable, soon to be out offashion, etc., that might otherwise go unsold or otherwise create a lossfor the retailer. Furthermore, the method 100 gives a retailer anability to sell products for which it has excess inventory, therebylimiting or reducing losses the retailer may incur if the retailermiscalculates demand for a specific product. While the retailer may sellthe excess products for a lower price than desired by the retailer, themethod 100 allows a retailer to generate good will on behalf ofcustomers. In some situations, the retailer may be willing to sell aproduct at a reduced price to help motivate the customer to purchase theproduct. Since the retailer is offering to sell the supplemental productto a customer at a reduced price after the customer has selectedproducts he or she wishes to purchase at normal (i.e., not reduced)prices, the offer will have little, if any, effect on sales of thesupplemental product at a normal price.

Another significant advantage of the method 100 for a retailer is thatthe retailer may increase impulse purchases by a customer while thecustomer is conducting a transaction, paying for products, standing in acheck-out line, etc. Therefore, in addition to displays of candy,magazines, shoe laces, cosmetics, etc. often found at a check out lineor near a point-of-sale terminal, the retailer has an additional way toprovide opportunities to customers to make impulse purchases.

A significant advantage of the method 100 for a customer is that thecustomer may receive a benefit by accepting an offer to buy anadditional or replacement product. For example, a customer might have anopportunity to purchase a product that is better than (e.g., is moredesirable, has a higher retail price, etc.) the product originallyselected by the customer. In addition, a customer might have anopportunity to purchase an additional product at a price that is lowerthe product's normal price, thereby saving the customer money.

Now referring to FIG. 2, an apparatus or system 200 usable with themethod 100 is illustrated. The apparatus 200 includes a controller 202that may communicate with one or more point-of-sale terminals 204, 206and user devices 208, 210 either directly or indirectly via a computer,data, or communications network 212. The controller 202 and/or one ofthe point-of-sale terminals 204, 206 preferably perform the steps 102,104 and 106 of the method 100 and receive transaction information fromusers who may be using the user devices 208, 210 or who may beinteracting with a store employee operating one of the point-of-saleterminals 204, 206.

The controller 202 may be operated by, for, or on behalf of a singleretailer, chain of retailers, collection of retailers, mall, shoppingcenter, one or more manufacturers, one or more suppliers, a governmentagency, etc. The controller 202 may also function as a World Wide Website server. The operation, configuration and use of the controller 202will be discussed in further detail below.

The system 200 may also include one or more point-of-sale terminals,such as the point-of-sale terminals 204, 206. The point-of-saleterminals 204, 206 may be located in, or associated with, retail stores,a mall or shopping center, a retail chain headquarters, etc. andpreferably are used to communicate store, product, service, productcategory, service category, benefit, customer, purchase or transactionrelated information to the controller 202, the user devices 208, 210 orother devices connected to the communications network 212. For example,a point-of-sale terminal may provide a confirmation or indication to thecontroller 202 that a customer has purchased a product or service duringa transaction.

Point-of-sale terminals may communicate indirectly with the controller202 and/or the user devices 208, 210 via the communication network 212or more directly, such as indicated by the dashed line 214 in FIG. 2.The operation, configuration and use of a point-of-sale terminal will bediscussed in further detail below.

The user devices 208, 210 preferably allow customers to interact withthe controller 202 and the remainder of the apparatus 200. The userdevices 208, 210 also enable customers to provide or receive indicationsof products or services, customer identifiers, payment information,purchase confirmations, indications of benefits, indications of productsor services, product information, service information, etc.Additionally, the user devices 208, 210 may enable a user to receiveinformation, instructions, etc. from the controller 202, a point-of-saleterminal, or other device. User devices may be or include a personalcomputer, portable computer, mobile or fixed user station, workstation,network terminal or server, telephone, cellular telephone, beeper,kiosk, dumb terminal, personal digital assistant, facsimile machine,customer information display associated with a point-of-sale terminal,etc. A single user or customer may operate, use or control one or moreuser devices and may use different devices and types of user devices fordifferent functions. The operation, configuration and use of userdevices will be discussed in further detail below.

The communications network 212 may be the Internet, the World Wide Web,or some other public or private computer or communications network orintranet, as will be described in further detail below. Thecommunications network 212 is only meant to be generally representativeof cable, computer or other communication networks for purposes ofelaboration and explanation of the present invention and other devices,networks, etc. may be connected to the communications network 212without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thecommunications network 212 is also intended to be representative of, andinclude all or a part of, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and otherprivately or publicly operated networks. The communications network 212can also include other public and/or private wide area networks, localarea networks, data communication networks or connections, intranets,extranets, cable modems, routers, satellite links, microwave links,cellular or radio links, fiber optic transmission lines, ISDN lines, T1lines, DSL, etc.

Now referring again to FIG. 1, the method 100 and the steps 102, 104 and106 will be discussed in more detail in relation to the system 200illustrated in FIG. 2. As previously discussed above, the method 100includes a step 102 during which transaction information is receivedfrom a user, a user or client device, a retailer, a retailer device,etc. relating to the purchase, rental, lease, etc. of one or moreproducts or services. Transaction information received during the step102 may include the product(s) and/or service(s) involved in thetransaction and their quantities, the prices for product(s) and/orservice(s) involved in the transaction, a user identifier, a user deviceidentifier, a retailer or store identifier, an employee identifier foran employee involved in the transaction, a point-of-sale terminalidentifier for a point-of-sale terminal involved in the transactions,the time and/or date of the transaction, a method of payment or apayment identifier, preference information for a user, credit history ofa user, characteristics of a user, user demographic information,information regarding a user's brand, product or service loyalty orpreference, information regarding a user's brand product or serviceindifference, a product identifier, a service identifier, an amount ofchange due a user as a result of the transaction, product quantity orinventory information, a price for a product being purchased during thetransaction, a price for a service being purchased during thetransaction, time of day, day of week, holiday, weather, number ofpeople in a party, etc. Some or all of the transaction informationreceived during the step 102 may be stored in a transaction database forlater use by the controller 202, a point-of-sale terminal, a userdevice, etc. An example transaction database will be described in moredetail below.

While the transaction information preferably will be received orobtained during the step 102 by the controller 202 or a point-of-saleterminal directly or indirectly from a user or user device, thetransaction information may also be received by a retailer, a cashier orcheck-out clerk, and/or a retailer device or some other device. Inaddition, the transaction information received during the step 102 maybe received via any one or more communication channels, such as via atelephone call, facsimile transmission, email message, data transmissionover the communications network 212, etc.

After the transaction information is received during the step 102, oneor more supplemental products are determined, identified or otherwiseselected during the step 104. The step 104 and offers to sell orotherwise provide supplemental products may occur during any point of atransaction based on the transaction information or other data receivedat the point of the transaction.

Selection of a supplemental product may be completed by the controller202, a point-of-sale terminal, a retailer, a retailer device, a cashieror check-out clerk, etc. In general, a supplemental product typicallywill relate in some way to the product(s) being purchased or otherwiseobtained by a user during the transaction for which information isreceived during the step 102. As will be discussed in more detail below,a supplemental product can be identified or selected in many ways oraccording to different rules or procedures. In addition, the rules maychange during operation of the method 100, as information about users,user preferences, user purchasing history, product inventory levels,product popularity or market acceptance, product costs or profitmargins, etc. are received or determined. Thus, a system or entity usingthe method 100 may adjust or tune itself or the applied rules over timeto optimize use and operation of the method 100.

Supplemental products for a transaction may include products in additionto the products being purchased by a user during the transaction orreplacement products for one or more of the products being purchasedduring the transaction. For example, if a group of products beingpurchased by a user during a transaction at a sporting goods store orWorld Wide Web site includes a backpack and a sleeping bag, anadditional supplemental product for the transaction could be a tent, ahiking stick, hiking boots, a portable cooking stove, etc. A replacementproduct for the transaction could be a different backpack or a differentsleeping bag. In another example, if a group of products being purchasedby a user during a transaction at a fast food restaurant includes ahamburger, a small order of French fries, and a medium soft drink, anadditional supplemental product might be an ice cream cone or milkshake. A replacement supplemental product for the hamburger might be acheeseburger, a replacement supplemental product for the small order ofFrench fries might be a large order of French fries, and a replacementproduct for the medium soft drink might be a large soft drink or a largemilk shake.

After one or more supplemental products are determined, identified orotherwise selected during the step 104, one or more indications of oneor more of the selected products is provided to a user, user device,point-of-sale terminal, etc. The indication may be provided by thecontroller 202, a point-of-sale terminal, a retailer, a retailer device,a cashier or check-out clerk, etc. Indications may be provided tomultiple places or device at or near the same time, such as to apoint-of-sale terminal and a customer device.

An indication may be provided via an email or other data message ortransmission, vocal message, visual display, telephone call, facsimiletransmission, regular or express mail, radio signal, beeper signal, etc.For example, a user shopping at a retailer might receive the indicationpersonally and audibly from a cashier or check out clerk or visually viaa display on a point-of-sale terminal. A user shopping online at aretailer's World Wide Web site via a user device, such as a personalcomputer, may receive the information in a message from the World WideWeb site. The World Wide Web site may be operating on a controller orother device. If more than one supplemental product is determined duringthe step 104, each product may be associated with a unique indication.Alternatively, an indication may illustrate that more than onesupplemental product has been selected during the step 104. Theindication for a supplemental product selected during the step 104 mayinclude a product description, a product identifier, a price, an offerto sell the product for a specific price, a time limit for the offer, aterm or condition associated with the purchase of the product, and/orother transaction or supplemental product information.

In embodiments where the indication provided during the step 106 for atransaction includes an offer to sell a selected supplemental product toa user, the method 100 may also include a step wherein an acceptance ofthe offer to purchase the selected supplemental product is received bythe controller 202, a user device, a point-of-sale terminal, a cashieror check-out clerk, etc. If desired, the acceptance may need to bereceived during a predetermined period of time in order to be valid oreffective. In some embodiments, the offer provided in the indication maybe assumed to be accepted if no rejection of the offer is received.Furthermore, the rejection may need to be received during apredetermined period of time in order to be valid or effective. In someembodiments, if a response to an offer is negative or if an offer isotherwise declined, an additional or secondary offer may be made.

In some embodiments, more than one supplemental product may be offeredfor sale or indicated to a user. In such embodiments, the user may beallowed to accept one or more of the offers to purchase a supplementalproduct. The method 100 may then include providing or transmitting suchan offer or indication to the user via the controller 202, apoint-of-sale terminal, a user device, etc. and/or receiving a selectionor choice from the user as to which offer or offers to accept.

In some embodiments of the method 100, a price or offer amount for thesupplemental product(s) selected during the step 104 may also bedetermined or identified. The price or offer amount for a supplementalproduct may be the regular full price for the product, a discountedversion of the regular full price for the product, or some other amount.In some embodiments, the amount of change due to a user for a giventransaction may be the price or offer amount for a supplemental product.While the amount of change may be in cash, the transaction is notlimited to cash transactions and the amount of change due may becomputed in a cashless transaction (e.g., a credit card transaction).

Receiving and carrying loose change, especially coins, is an annoyanceto many users or customers when making a purchase or otherwiseconducting a transaction. Consequently, users often are forced to tendernon-whole number cash amounts in order to dispose of their unwantedcoins and/or reduce the coins that would otherwise be provided to themby a cashier or check-out clerk as change for their purchase. Coins andbills that are tendered by the user are generally collected by a cashierat a point-of-sale terminal.

Both dispensing coins to and collecting coins from a user increases theamount of time a cashier spends processing a purchase or transaction,and therefore increases the amount of time that users wait in line at apoint-of-sale terminal. Accordingly, businesses must often pay wages fortime spent handling coins, and users must experience delays as coins areexchanged between cashiers and users. In addition, it is possible thatthe cashier will make a mathematical error and dispense the wrong amountof change to a user. Users often anticipate such an error and counttheir change to assure that they have received the correct amount. Suchusers typically count their change before leaving the point-of-saleterminal, further delaying other users from initiating a purchase ortransaction. In addition, businesses also often incur costs associatedwith counting, rolling, banking and otherwise handling coins. By someestimates, businesses expend hundreds of thousands of hours and hundredsof millions of dollars each year just to handle coins. Therefore, bothusers and businesses may benefit by avoiding the need to provide changeto users during a transaction.

In some embodiments, the price or offer amount of a supplemental productmay be based on the amount of change due to a user during a transaction.A cashier or check-out device, a point-of-sale terminal, a user device,the controller 202, or some other device may determine the change due toa customer in connection with the user's purchase and price thesupplemental product accordingly or use the amount of change due todetermine which product to select as a supplemental product.

In some embodiments, the price or offer amount of a supplemental productmay be based on a round-up amount. For example, in a transaction forclothing products having a transaction total of $156.75, a round-upamount based on ten dollar levels would be $3.25 (i.e.,$160.00−$156.75). If the round-up amount is based on one-hundred dollarincrements, a round-up amount for the transaction total of $156.75 wouldbe $43.25 (i.e., $200−$156.75). Use of round-up amounts as offer amountsfor supplemental products are particularly applicable in cashlesstransactions, such as when a user is paying with a credit or debit card.A round-up amount may be larger depending on the total transactionamount (e.g., rounding to the nearest one-hundred dollar amount insteadof the nearest ten dollar amount if the transaction total exceeds fivehundred dollars).

The operation, use and concept of taking an amount of change due acustomer or user and offering to sell a new product or “upsell” to thecustomer or user in exchange for the amount of change due is discussedin pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/920,116 entitled METHODAND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCT SALES AT A POINT-OF-SALETERMINAL, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

A price or offer amount for a supplemental product and an offer to sella supplemental product may be provided or indicated by a point-of-saleterminal. For example, when a user brings a purchase to a point-of-saleterminal, the point-of-sale terminal may generate or otherwise determinethe purchase price for the purchase and set a “required payment amount”to be equal to the purchase price. The required payment amount indicatesthe amount the customer is expected to pay. The point-of-sale terminalthen generates or otherwise determines a rounded price for asupplemental product, preferably by rounding up the purchase price to awhole number, and calculates therefrom a round-up amount equal to thedifference between the purchase price and the rounded price.Accordingly, a round-up amount for a transaction may indicate or bebased on the coins or other amount due as change in a cash transaction,or the nearest and higher ten dollar amount (e.g., a round-up amount fora $163.50 transaction total is $6.50, i.e., $170.00−$163.50) or thenearest and higher hundred dollar amount (e.g., a round-up amount for a$163.50 transaction total is $36.50, i.e., $200−$163.50) in a cashlesstransaction. As previously discussed above, a round-up amount may belarger depending on the total transaction amount (e.g., rounding to thenearest one-hundred dollar amount instead of the nearest ten dollaramount if the transaction total exceeds one-thousand dollars).

Now referring to FIG. 3, the select supplemental product(s) step 104 ofthe method 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 will now be discussed in moredetail. As previously discussed above, the method 100 includes a step104 during which one or more supplemental products are identified orotherwise selected. The step 104 may be used to determine either of bothof an additional supplemental product or a replacement supplementalproduct. In some embodiments, the step 104 may include a step 300 duringwhich a pool of one or more possible supplemental products is identifiedor determined, a step 302 during which the products determined duringthe step 300 are ranked or scored, and a step 304 during which thesupplemental product(s) to be indicated during the step 106 is selectedor chosen based, at least in part, on the product ranks or scorescomputed or determined during the step 302. Each of the steps 300, 302,304 will be discussed in further detail below.

During the step 300, the pool of potential supplemental products isidentified or otherwise determined. In general, the pool of productsdetermined during the step 300 corresponds to the potential productsthat may be offered as a supplemental product during a giventransaction. Preferably, the given transaction is the transaction forwhich information is received during the step 102. A merchant orretailer may determine potential products in many different ways, suchas by querying a database containing information regarding relationshipsbetween products, checking product inventory, etc. The pool of potentialproducts determined during the step 300 may vary depending on whetheradditional supplemental products are being determined or replacementsupplemental products are being determined, as will be discussed in moredetail below.

During the step 302, the potential supplemental products identified ordetermined during the step 300 are ranked or scored so that theirrelative value, use, etc. as supplemental products may be ascertained.The candidate list of supplemental products created during the step 300may be scored in many different ways, such as by profitability, userpopularity, a discount at which they can be offered for sale to a user,a number of the products remaining in inventory, the time to prepare theproduct for sale or delivery to a user, a products' associated laborcosts, the occurrence of sale or other promotion, an occurrence of aholiday, a competitor's sale or promotion, customer preferences,customer purchase history or buying habits, time to prepare thesupplemental products for sale, marketing or consumer research or data,etc. As used herein, “scoring” of supplemental products will include andencompass any kind of rating, ordering, measuring, testing, appraising,accessing, evaluating, comparing, contrasting, etc., that may be used toevaluate and choose possible supplemental products for a transaction.

In a profit scoring approach, the cost associated with a possiblesupplemental product is compared to the costs of other possiblesupplemental products to determine the profit that would be made if auser accepts an offer to purchase the supplemental product. Thepotential supplemental products can then be ranked according to whichsupplemental product provides the most profit if purchased. A moredetailed example of the profit scoring approach is provided below.

In a popularity scoring approach, each potential supplemental product isscored based on the percentage of users who have accepted an opportunityin the past to purchase the supplemental product when offered theopportunity by a merchant or retailer. Therefore, the potentialsupplemental products can be ranked according to which supplementalproduct is most likely to be purchased by a user if the user is given anopportunity to purchase the supplemental product. Another approach topopularity scoring or measurement may be based on a particularcustomer's past buying habits in purchasing similar products, acceptingsupplemental offers for the same or similar products, etc. A popularityscoring approach may also measure users' perceived value for thepotential supplemental products. A more detailed example of thepopularity scoring approach is provided below.

In a discount scoring approach, each potential supplemental product isscored according to the discount at which the supplemental product maybe offered to a user for a given transaction. Thus, such a discountscoring approach is based at least in part on the price or offer amountthe supplemental products will be offered for sale to a user, which mayvary from one transaction to another. A more detailed example of thediscount scoring approach is provided below.

In some embodiments a combination of scoring approaches or techniquesmight be used for supplemental products. Thus, a cumulative score mightbe generated by using weighted or non-weighted scores generated by twoor more supplemental product scoring approaches. For example, both theprofit scoring approach and the popularity scoring approach might beused to generate a single composite or collaborative score. The relativeimportance or weight of a score generated using the profit scoringapproach versus a score generated using the popularity scoring approachin a composite or collaborative score can be varied according to thedesired implementation. Thus, a score generated using the profit scoringapproach may be weighted such that it constitutes a higher percentage ofa final composite score as compared to a score generated using thepopularity scoring approach, thereby reflecting the relative importancegiven to each of the two scoring approaches when determining orselecting a supplemental product.

During the step 304, one or more products from the pool of productsidentified during the step 300 and scored during the step 302 areselected or chosen as the supplemental product(s). The determination ofhow many products should be selected as supplemental products may varyaccording to implementation. For example, only the product having thehighest or best score as determined during the step 302 may be selectedas a supplemental product during the step 304. Alternatively, the two,three, four, etc. products having the highest or best score asdetermined during the step 302 may be selected as supplemental productsduring the step 304. As another example, all of the products havingscores exceeding a threshold or meeting some other criteria may beselected as supplemental products during the step 304. In anotherexample, random or semi-random selection among products having the top Nscores may also be used to select supplemental products during the step304.

As previously discussed above, the step 104 may be used to determineeither an additional supplemental product or a replacement supplementalproduct. Therefore, the steps 300, 302, 304 may be used to determineeither an additional supplemental product or a replacement supplementalproduct. However, the step 104 may operate differently if an additionalsupplemental product is being determined as opposed to a replacementsupplemental product. More specifically, the step 300 during which apool of possible supplemental products is identified or determined mayoperate differently if the supplemental product is an additionalsupplemental product as opposed to a replacement supplemental product.

Now referring to FIG. 4, the step 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 isillustrated for use in embodiments where an additional supplementalproduct might be selected during the step 300 for the step 104 in themethod 100. The step 300 may include a step 350 during which productcategories may be determined or identified based on products purchasedor ordered by a user. Categorizing of products during the step 350 helpsto determine complementary products that would be good choices forsupplemental products, as will be described in more detail below.Product category information may be retrieved from a product database.An example product database is discussed in more detail below.

Product categories may be of various levels of specificity. For example,product categories might be broadly defined as “food,” “sporting goods,”“housewares,” “clothing,” “automotive products,” etc. Alternatively,product categories might be defined more narrowly as “specialtysandwich,” “sandwich,” “beverage,” “side order,” “dessert,” etc., all ofwhich may be related to products offered for sale by a restaurant.Product categories may also be based on other criteria, such as productcost, type of customer to whom a product is sold, popularity ofproducts, etc. Furthermore, product categories and product groups may bebased on any desired or similar characteristics or products.

For a user purchasing two hamburgers, one small order of French fries,one large order of onion rings, one large drink, and one ice cream cone,the product categories identified during the step 350 may include twoproducts in the “sandwich” category (e.g., the two hamburgers), twoproducts in the “side order” category (e.g., the small order of FrenchFries and the large order of onion rings), one product in the “beverage”category (e.g., the large drink), and one product in the “dessert”category (e.g., the ice cream cone). As a second example, productcategories might be as “shirt,” “shoes,” “pants,” “skirt,” “blouse,”“jacket,” “socks,” “dress,” etc., all of which may be related toproducts offered for sale by a department store or other retailer. Insome embodiments, a number of different categorization schemes might beused and a given product might fall within more than one category (e.g.,a product may fall into both a “specialty sandwich” product category anda “sandwich” product category).

During a step 352, likely groups of related products are constructedfrom the product categories identified during the step 350. For example,in a situation where the categories for a transaction are food related(e.g., “specialty sandwich,” “sandwich,” “beverage,” “side order,”“dessert,” etc.), a group of products in certain product categoriesmight be considered as a “meal.” More specifically, a “meal” may beconsidered as one product in the “sandwich” category, one product in the“side order” product category, and one product in the “beverage”category. Therefore, for a user who is purchasing two hamburgers, onesmall order of French fries, one large drink and one small drink, theuser is purchasing one “meal,” e.g., one hamburger, one small order ofFrench fries, and one small drink. Therefore, the first “meal” comprisesa group of product categories determined or identified during the step352. The remaining hamburger and one large drink are not sufficient tocomplete a second “meal” as “meal” is defined above.

As another example, in a situation where the categories for atransaction are clothing related (e.g., “shirt,” “shoes,” “pants,”“skirt,” “blouse,” “jacket,” “socks,” “dress,” etc.), a group ofproducts in certain product categories might be considered as an“outfit.” More specifically, an “outfit” may be considered as oneproduct in the “pants” or “skirt” categories and one product in the“shirt” or “blouse” categories. Therefore, a user who is purchasingthree pairs of pants, one skirt, one pair of socks, two pairs of shoes,and five shirts is buying four “outfits,” three “outfits” comprising apair of pants and a shirt and one “outfit” comprising a skirt and ashirt. The pairs of socks and shoes and the remaining shirt are notsufficient to complete a second “outfit” as “outfit” is defined above.

During a step 354, at least one complementary product category is chosenfor the categories determined during the step 350 and the groupsconstructed during the step 352. That is, product categoriescomplementary or related to the product categories identified during thestep 350 are identified that might complete or augment a groupcompletely or partially constructed during the step 352. For the foodexample discussed above, the purchase of two hamburgers, one small orderof French fries, one large drink and one small drink comprised one“meal.” The remaining hamburger and one large drink were not sufficientto complete a second “meal.” Therefore, a complimentary product categoryfor this example may be “side order” since the addition of a “sideorder” product to the hamburger and one large drink would complete a“meal.” Another complementary product category for the user may be“dessert” since the user has purchased at least one complete “meal,” butno desserts to go along with it. There may be other product categoriesdetermined during the step 354 and many different product categories maybe available depending on the categories identified during the step 350,the groups constructed during the step 352, etc.

For the clothing example discussed above, a pair of socks or shoes maybe supplemental additional products for an “outfit” and, as a result,“socks” and “shoes” are complimentary product categories for a userpurchasing an “outfit.” Similarly, a jacket, umbrella, purse, or otherclothing item may also be supplemental additional products for an“outfit.”

During an optional step 356, an offer amount for a supplementaladditional product may be determined, selected or identified. An offeramount may be based on a predetermined amount (e.g., five dollars, fiftycents, etc.), on the total price of the products being purchased by auser during a transaction, on a price of one of the products beingpurchased by a user during a transaction, the amount of change due to acustomer during a transaction, on transaction information determinedduring the step 102, product categories identified during the step 350,product groups constructed during the step 352, etc. The offer amountdetermined or identified during the step 356 may be different fordifferent transactions, different product categories, different productgroups, etc. and may vary with the amount or number of products ininventory, the occurrence of a sale, promotion or holiday, etc. For thefood example discussed above, the offer amount may be set or determinedto be fifty cents. Alternatively, the offer amount may be equal to anamount of change due to a user during a transaction. Thus, if the priceof the two hamburgers, one small order of French fries, one large drinkand one small drink is four dollars and forty cents and a user providesa five dollar bill to pay for the food, the amount of change due issixty cents. If the user provides a ten dollar bill to pay for the food,the amount of change due may be five dollars and fifty cents.

During a step 358, one or more supplemental products are selected oridentified which fit or fall into one or more of the complementaryproduct categories identified during the step 354 and which can beprovided for the offer amount determined or calculated during the step356. As will be described in more detail below, more than one productmay be selected during the step 358.

Now referring to FIG. 5, the step 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 isillustrated for use in embodiments where a replacement supplementalproduct might be selected during the step 300 for the step 104 in themethod 100. The step 300 in this embodiment includes a step 380 duringwhich possible replacement products are determined or identified for theproducts being purchased during a transaction. In some embodiments,information regarding the products being purchased during thetransaction may be included in the transaction information received bythe controller 202 or during the step 102 and used to determine possiblereplacement products. Information regarding possible replacementproducts for one or all of the products being purchased during thetransaction may be stored in a product database populated, maintainedand/or accessed by the controller 202, a point-of-sale terminal, aretailer device, a user device, etc. Potential replacement products fora specific user may also be selected during the step 380 based on theuser's past purchasing history, known preferences, etc.

In the food examples discussed above, a cheeseburger might be areplacement supplemental product for a hamburger and an order of onionrings might be a replacement supplemental product for an order of Frenchfries. Alternatively, in the good example, a supplemental product offermay be based on knowledge of a person's food preferences. In theclothing example discussed above, a shirt may be a replacementsupplemental product for a shirt or blouse being purchased by a user anda skirt may be a replacement supplemental product for a pair of pantsbeing purchased by a user. Alternatively, in the clothing example, asupplemental product offer may be based on knowledge of a person'sexisting wardrobe.

During a step 382, the offer amounts, prices and/or costs for thepotential replacement products determined or identified during the step380 are determined. The step 382 is similar to the step 356 previouslydiscussed above. In some embodiments, the prices or costs may bedetermined by accessing or querying a product database. Pricesdetermined during the step 382 may be the prices to be charged to a userfor the replacement products identified during the step 380. Costsdetermined during the step 382 may be the costs for the provider of thereplacement products identified during the step 380. In general, theprice or offer amount charged to a user for a supplemental replacementproduct will be higher or greater than the cost to the provider forproviding the supplemental replacement product to the user. An offeramount may comprise only a monetary figure or amount, a non-monetaryfigure or amount (e.g., frequent diner points, frequent flyer miles), amanufacturer or third-party sponsored payment, coupon, etc., or acombination of a monetary figure or amount and a non-monetary figure oramount.

During a step 384, a pool of one or more potential supplementalreplacement products identified during the step 380 is chosen oridentified. In some embodiments, a potential supplemental replacementproduct may need to have a higher user price than a product thesupplemental replacement product is offered to replace. In otherembodiments, a supplemental replacement product may need to have a lowerprovider cost than a product the supplemental replacement product isoffered to replace. In other embodiments a supplemental replacementproduct may need to have an incremental price increase over the productthat it is replacing that is lower than or equal to an amount of changedue to a customer or some other fixed amount (e.g., one dollar, $1.50,etc.).

In order to provide a more detailed explanation of one possibleimplementation of the method 100 and the system 200, two detailedexamples of an implementation and use of the method 100 will be now beprovided, with reference to FIGS. 7-18. While the following examples aredirected to uses of the method 100 and the system 200 by a restaurant orother food provider to sell food products such as hamburgers,cheeseburgers, French fries, etc. to users, the method 100 and thesystem 200 is not limited to such an implementation. The first exampleis directed to an implementation of the method 100 to provide anadditional supplemental product to a user purchasing food products andthe second example is directed to an implementation of the method 100 toprovide a replacement supplemental product to a user purchasing foodproducts.

In an implementation of the method 100 wherein one or more additionalsupplemental products are determined during the step 104, the method 100proceeds in accordance with the steps illustrated in FIG. 4. Aspreviously discussed above, in this type of implementation, the steps350, 352, 354, 356, and 358 comprise at least part of the step 300 inthe step 104.

Now referring to FIG. 6, a record 400 is illustrated that may begenerated as transaction information by the controller 202, apoint-of-sale terminal or a user device during a transaction duringwhich a user is purchasing one double-decker burger, two cheeseburgers,one medium order of fries, one large order of fries, and one large softdrink, which fall into the product categories “SPECIALTY SANDWICH,”“SANDWICH,” “SIDE ORDER,” and “BEVERAGE,” as illustrated in the entriesin the fields 402, 404, 406 of the record 400. The record 400 may begenerated during a transaction initiated, conducted or participated inby a user and received during the step 102 as part or all of thetransaction information. The total retail price for the five productslisted in the record is nine dollars and fifty cents, as illustrated bythe entry in the field 408. The transaction for or with which the recordis associated is “T-41-1730918,” as illustrated in the field 410 of therecord 400.

During the step 350, product categories involved in the transaction areidentified. The product categories to be used are food related and willcomprise the following: “SPECIALTY SANDWICH,” “SANDWICH,” “BEVERAGE,”“SIDE ORDER” and “DESSERT.” Generally, the product categories used for aparticular application will be established in advance. With reference tothe record 400, the user is purchasing two products in the “SANDWICH”and “SIDE ORDER” product categories, and one product each in the“SPECIALTY SANDWICH” and “BEVERAGE” categories.

In an embodiment where an additional supplemental product may be offeredfor sale to the user, a record 450 illustrated in FIG. 7 may be createdas part of the step 352. As previously discussed above, the step 352 ispart of the step 300 which is, in turn, part of the step 104 duringwhich one or more supplemental products are determined or otherwiseidentified. During the step 352, product groups are constructed usingthe product categories determined during the step 350 for the productspurchased by the user.

In this example, one product group is designated as “MEAL 1” andincludes a specialty sandwich, a side order, a beverage, and a dessert,as indicated by the entries in the field 452 of the record 450.Groupings of complementary products may be based on criteria other than“meals.” For example, a high profit margin product may be considered asa complementary product for a low profit margin product, a ticket to achild oriented movie may be considered as a complementary product for achild meal at restaurant, and a coupon for a product may be consideredas a complementary product to a product purchased during a transaction.

Products which the customer has ordered during the transaction that fallwithin the product categories listed in the field 452 are provided inthe entries for the field 454. As shown in the record 450, the user hasordered four components of a “MEAL 1” product group, namely adouble-decker burger, one medium order of French fries, and one largesoft drink. The remaining items that the user ordered (i.e., the twocheeseburgers and the large order of French fries) are listed in therecord 500 illustrated in FIG. 8, but are not sufficient to complete theproduct group “MEAL 1.” The remaining items listed in the field 502 fallwithin the product categories listed in the field 504. In addition, theremaining items may form a part of a product group “MEAL 2,” as shown inthe record 550 illustrated in FIG. 9.

The “MEAL 2” product category requires five elements, as listed in thefield 552 in the record 550, namely two products in the “SANDWICH”product category, one produce in the “SIDE ORDER” product category, oneproduct in the “BEVERAGE” category, and one product in the “DESSERT”category. The remaining products (i.e., the two cheeseburgers and thelarge order of French fries) not associated with the “MEAL 1” productgroup form three of the five products needed for the “MEAL 2” group, asshown by the entries in the field 554 for the record 550.

During the step 354, at least one complementary product category isdetermined in relation to the products being purchased by the user(i.e., one double-decker burger, two cheeseburgers, one medium order offries, one large order of fries, and one large soft drink) and theproduct categories identified during the step 350. As illustrated by therecords 450 and 550, a complementary product might include a “DESSERT,”which would complete “MEAL 1” or would help complete “MEAL 2,” or a“BEVERAGE,” which would help complete “MEAL 2.” Other complementaryproduct categories may also be available.

During the step 356, an offer amount for the supplemental product isdetermined or calculated. As shown in the field 408 in the record 400illustrated in FIG. 6, the total retail price of the products beingpurchased by the user is nine dollars and fifty cents. As shown inrecord 600, particularly the field 602, illustrated in FIG. 10, a roundup amount of fifty cents has been determined during the step 356. Whilethe round up amount of fifty cents may be determined in many ways, forpurposes of the present example it will be assumed that the usertendered a ten dollar bill or ten dollars in other bill amounts to coverthe nine dollar and fifty cents price for the products and fifty centsis the change due to the customer during the transaction (i.e.,$10.00−$9.50=$0.50).

During the step 358, a pool of supplemental products is determined basedon the complementary product categories identified during the step 354and the offer amount determined during the step 356. The pool ofsupplemental products may be products that fall within the complementaryproduct categories determined during the step 354 but have a cost to theprovider less than or equal to the offer amount determined during thestep 356. After the step 358 is completed a record, such as the record650 illustrated in FIG. 11 may be created which lists potentialsupplemental products and their associated costs.

Most of the products listed in the record 650 fall within “DESSERT” or“BEVERAGE” product categories determined to be complementary productcategories during the step 354. The two products in the “SANDWICH”category listed in the record 650 may also be considered as possiblesupplemental products, even though they don't necessarily fill anyparticular product group. They may always be added as a matter of courseto the list of potential supplemental products determined during thestep 358, or they may be added in accordance with a rule, heuristic,process, etc. that may take into account the number and/or type ofproducts available or in inventory for a product category or otherfactors.

After the step 358 is completed, thereby completing the step 300, thestep 104 in the method 100 continues to the step 302 during which scoresfor the products determined or selected during the step 358 arecalculated. As previously discussed above, many different scoringprocesses or approaches are possible, including scoring approaches basedon profits, popularity, and discounts. A detailed example using severalscoring approaches is provided below.

As previously discussed above, a second example of a determination of asupplemental product is provided wherein a replacement supplementalproduct is determined using the method 100. Like the previous examplewhere a pool of possible additional supplemental products wasdetermined, the second example will be directed to use of the method 100and the system 200 by a restaurant or other food provider to sell foodproducts such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, etc. to users.

In implementations of the method 100 wherein one or more possiblereplacement products are determined, the step 300 proceeds in accordancewith the steps illustrated in FIG. 5. As previously discussed above, inthis type of implementation, the steps 380, 382 and 384 comprise atleast part of the step 300 in the step 104.

During the step 380, possible replacement products are determined forthe products being purchased by a user. In this example, the user ispurchasing one double-decker burger, two cheeseburgers, one medium orderof fries, one large order of fries, and one large soft drink. Possiblereplacement products may be determined according to one or more rules orprocesses and may have one or more terms or conditions. For example,possible replacement products may be required to have at least adesignated minimum retail price, a designated minimum profit margin,etc. As a further example, replacement products for food products may beas illustrated in the table 700 illustrated in FIG. 12. As shown in thetable 700, food products listed in a item ordered field 702 may bereplaced by food products listed in a replace item field 704. The costto replace the food products listed in the field 702 with the foodproducts listed in the field 704 is listed in a replacement cost field706. For example, a hamburger may be replaced by a cheeseburger, aquarter pound hamburger, or a double-decker burger. Similarly, acheeseburger can be replaced by a quarter pound hamburger or adouble-decker burger. Likewise, a small soft drink can be replaced by amedium soft drink or a large soft drink. In some embodiments, thereplacement rules may be category driven such that any product from oneproduct category may replace any other product from that productcategory.

For the products being purchased by the user in the current example, thepossible replacement products identified during the step 380 are shownin the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 13. The user has two replacementoptions for one or both of the cheeseburgers that the user is purchasingand one replacement option for the medium French fries that the user ispurchasing.

During the step 382, the offer amount for the products identified duringthe step 380 and illustrated in the table 750 are computed oridentified. The offer amount may be the amount of change due a customerduring a transaction, a fixed amount (e.g., two dollars), etc. Inaddition, the offer amount may comprise only a monetary figure oramount, only a non-monetary figure or amount, or a combination of amonetary figure or amount and a non-monetary figure or amount. In thisexample, the offer amount is determined to be fifty cents, as previouslydescribed above.

During the step 384, one or more replacement supplement products areidentified and selected from the products identified during the step380. In general, the pool of potential replacement supplemental productsidentified during the step 384 will be those products identified duringthe step 380 that can be offered for a replacement cost that is lessthan or equal to the offer amount determined during the step 382. In thepresent example, all of the possible replacement products identifiedduring the step 380 and listed in the table 750 have a replacement costless than fifty cents (e.g., the offer amount determined during the step382).

After the step 300 in the step 104 is completed, scores for the possiblesupplemental products, both replacement and additional, determined oridentified during the step 300 are calculated or determined during thestep 302. Possible scoring approaches for products include, but are notlimited to, a profit based scoring approach, a popularity based scoringapproach, a discount based scoring approach, a composite orcollaborative scoring approach, etc.

Now referring to FIG. 14, an example of a profit based scoring approachwill now be described in detail. A record 800 created during the step300 of the step 104 may contain information for both an additionalsupplemental product and a replacement supplemental product. For thefood example discussed above where a user is purchasing onedouble-decker burger, two cheeseburgers, one medium order of fries, onelarge order of fries, and one large soft drink during the transaction“T-41-173-0918,” possible additional supplemental products includeproducts falling into the “DESSERT” and “BEVERAGE” categories, asindicated in fields 802 and 804 of the record 800, and possiblereplacement supplemental products include replacing either or both ofthe user's cheeseburgers with a quarter pound hamburger and/or adouble-decker burger and replacing the user's medium order of Frenchfries with a large order of French fries, as indicated in fields 806 and808 of the record 800. The offer amount for the supplemental product isfifty cents, as indicated in the offer amount field 810 and ispresumably based on the transaction subtotal amount of nine dollars andfifty cents indicated in the subtotal field 812 and tender amount of tendollars offered by the customer to purchase the food products.

In a profit based scoring approach, the cost of each supplementalproduct is used to determine the profit that the supplemental productwould produce for the transaction at the offer amount, relative to theprofits that the other supplemental products would produce for thetransaction. A profit calculation may be based on a straight monetaryamount, on a percentage of total transaction cost, a commission, etc.

For example, in the record 800, three potential additional supplementalproducts are listed in the field 802 and three potential replacementproducts are listed in the field 808. Each of the six potentialsupplemental products has an associated cost. The costs for the threepossible additional supplemental products are provided in an item costfield 814 while the costs for the three possible replacementsupplemental products are provided in an replacement cost field 816.Based on the offer amount of fifty cents provided in the field 810 andthe costs in the fields 814, 816, item profits can be determined for thethree possible additional supplemental products, as listed in an itemprofit field 818, and for the three possible replacement supplementalproducts, as listed in an item profit field 820. The figures in the itemprofit fields 818, 820 are computed by taking the difference between theoffer amount of fifty cents and the respective entries in the item costfields 814, 816. For example, the additional supplemental product ofcookies has an item cost of twenty-three cents, as provided in the field814, and an item profit of twenty-seven cents (i.e., $0.27=$0.50−$0.23),as provided in the field 818. Similarly, the replacement supplementalproduct of a quarter pound hamburger has a replacement cost of eighteencents, as provided in the field 816, and an item profit of thirty-twocents (i.e., $0.32=$0.50−$0.18), as provided in the field 820.

After the individual item profits are calculated for the possiblesupplemental products listed in the fields 802 and 808, their respectiverelative percentages of profit are determined and provided in relativeprofit percentage fields 822, 824 of the record 800. The percentage oftotal profit for a possible supplemental product listed in the fields802, 808 is computed by taking the product's associated item profit asprovided in the item profit field 818 or 820 and dividing it by the sumof all of the profits provided in the item profit fields 818, 820 andforming a percentage. For example, the sum of all of the individual itemprofits in the fields 818, 820 is $1.62 (i.e.,$1.62=$0.27+$0.19+$0.39+$0.32+$0.25+$0.20). The additional supplementalproduct of cookies has an item profit of twenty-seven cents, thereforeits relative profit percentage is 16.67 percent (i.e.,%16.67=%100×$0.27/$1.62), as provided in the relative profit percentagefield 822. The additional supplemental product of an ice cream cone hasan item profit of thirty-one cents, therefore its relative profitpercentage is 11.73 percent (i.e., %11.73=%100×$0.19/$1.62), as providedin the relative profit percentage field 822. The replacementsupplemental product of a quarter pound hamburger has an item profit ofthirty-two cents, therefore its relative profit percentage is 19.75percent (i.e., %19.75=%100×$0.32/$1.62), as provided in the relativeprofit percentage field 824.

In some embodiments, the percentages provided in the fields 822, 824become the profit based scores for the possible supplemental products,as provided in profit based score fields 826, 828. For the six possiblesupplemental products provided in the record 800, the additionalsupplemental product of medium soft drink has the highest score (i.e.,24.07). In some embodiments, the profit based scores in the fields 826,828 may be used as part of a composite score, as will be discussed inmore detail below. The profit based scores may be weighted as part ofthe composite score so that the relative importance of the profit basedscoring approach as compared to other scoring approaches can becontrolled. The record 800 includes a weighting factor of four, asprovided in a weight field 830. Therefore, the weighted profit basedscores for the possible supplemental products listed in the fields 802,808 are the profit based scores provided in the fields 826, 828multiplied by the weight factor of four provided in the weight field830. The weighted profit based scores for the possible supplementalproducts listed in the fields 802, 808 are provided in weighted scoresfields 832, 834 in the record 800.

Now referring to FIG. 15, an example of a popularity based scoringapproach will now be described in detail. A record 850 created duringthe step 300 of the step 104 may contain information for both anadditional supplemental product and a replacement supplemental product,as previously discussed above in conjunction with the record 800.Therefore, for the transaction “T-41-173-0918” wherein a user ispurchasing one double-decker burger, two cheeseburgers, one medium orderof fries, one large order of fries, and one large soft drink, the record850 may include the same fields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, and 830previously described above.

The popularity based scoring approach is based on the percentage of oneor more users who have in the past accepted a given product as asupplemental product, thereby creating a “take rate” or “accept rate”for the supplemental product. An accept rate may be specific to aparticular user or a composite of the particular user's acceptance of anitem and overall consumer acceptance of the item.

The take or accept rates for the additional supplemental productsprovided in the field 802 are provided in an accept rate field 852 whilethe accept rates for the replacement supplemental products provided inthe field 808 are provided in an accept rate field 854. For example,when cookies are offered as an additional supplemental product during atransaction, the offer is accepted fifteen percent of the time, as shownin the field 852. Similarly, when an ice cream cone is offered as anadditional supplemental product during a transaction, the offer isaccepted six percent of the time, as shown in the field 852. Likewise,when a quarter pound hamburger is offered as a replacement supplementalproduct for a cheeseburger during a transaction, the offer is acceptedtwelve percent of the time, as shown in the field 854.

After the individual item accept rates for the possible supplementalproducts listed in the fields 802 and 808 are determined, theirrespective relative percentage of popularity is determined and providedin relative popularity percentage fields 856, 858 of the record 850. Thepercentage of total popularity for a possible supplemental productlisted in the fields 802, 808 is computed by taking the product'sassociated item accept rate as provided in the item profit field 852 or854 and dividing it by the sum of all of the accept rates provided inthe item accept rate fields 852, 854 and forming a percentage. Forexample, the sum of all of the individual item accept rates in thefields 852, 854 is ninety-five percent (i.e.,%95=%15+%6+%21+%12+%9+%32). The additional supplemental product ofcookies has an item accept rate of fifteen percent, therefore itsrelative accept rate percentage is 15.79 percent (i.e.,%15.79=%100×%15%95), as provided in the relative popularity percentagefield 856.

The additional supplemental product of an ice cream cone has an itemaccept rate of six percent, therefore its relative accept ratepercentage is 6.32 percent (i.e., %6.32=%100×%6%95), as provided in therelative popularity percentage field 856. The replacement supplementalproduct of a quarter pound hamburger has an item accept rate of twelvepercent, therefore its relative accept rate percentage is 12.63 percent(i.e., %12.63=%100×%12%95), as provided in the relative popularitypercentage field 858.

In some embodiments, the percentages provided in the fields 856, 858become the popularity based scores for the possible supplementalproducts, as provided in popularity based score fields 860, 862. For thesix possible supplemental products provided in the record 850, thereplacement supplemental product of medium French fries has the highestscore (i.e., 33.68). In some embodiments, the popularity based scores inthe fields 860, 862 may be used as part of a composite score, as will bediscussed in more detail below. The popularity based scores may beweighted as part of the composite score so that the relative importanceof the popularity based scoring approach as compared to the profit basedscoring approach discussed above and to other scoring approaches can becontrolled. The record 850 includes a weighting factor of three, asprovided in the weight field 830 for the record 850. Therefore, theweighted popularity based scores for the possible supplemental productslisted in the fields 802, 808 are the popularity based scores providedin the fields 860, 862 multiplied by the weight factor of three providedin the weight field 830. The weighted popularity based scores for thepossible supplemental products listed in the fields 802, 808 areprovided in weighted scores fields 864, 868 in the record 850.

Now referring to FIG. 16, an example of a discount based scoringapproach will now be described in detail. A record 900 created duringthe step 300 of the step 104 may contain information for both anadditional supplemental product and a replacement supplemental product,as previously discussed above in conjunction with the record 800.Therefore, for the transaction “T-41-173-0918” wherein a user ispurchasing one double-decker burger, two cheeseburgers, one medium orderof fries, one large order of fries, and one large soft drink, the record850 may include the same fields 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, and 830previously described above.

The discount based scoring approach is based on the discount off theretail price which the possible supplemental products provided in thefields 802, 808 may be offered if the possible supplemental products areoffered to a user for the offer amount provided in the field 810. Theretail prices for the three possible additional supplemental productsprovided in the field 802 are provided in a retail price field 902.Similarly, the retail prices for the three possible replacementsupplemental products provided in the field 808 are provided in a retailprice field 904. The discount for each of the three possible additionalsupplemental products provided in the field 802 are given in a discountfield 906 and are determined by subtracting the offer amount providedthe field 810 (e.g., fifty cents) from the products' respective retailprices provided in the field 902. Similarly, the discount for each ofthe three possible replacement supplemental products provided in thefield 808 are given in a discount field 908 and are determined bysubtracting the offer amount provided the field 810 (e.g., fifty cents)from the products' respective retail prices provided in the field 904.

After the individual item discounts for the possible supplementalproducts listed in the fields 802 and 808 are determined, theirrespective relative percentage of discount is determined and provided inrelative discount percentage fields 910, 912 of the record 900. Thepercentage of total discount for a possible supplemental product listedin the fields 802, 808 is computed by taking the product's associateddiscount as provided in the field 906 or 908 and dividing it by the sumof all of the discounts provided in the discount fields 910, 912 andforming a percentage. For example, the sum of all of the individualdiscounts in the fields 906, 908 is $2.60 (i.e.,$2.60=$0.35+$0.60+$0.70+$0.25+$0.50+$0.20). The additional supplementalproduct of cookies has a discount of thirty-five cents, therefore itsrelative discount percentage is 13.46 percent (i.e.,%13.46=%100×$0.35/$2.60), as provided in the relative discountpercentage field 910. The additional supplemental product of an icecream cone has a discount of sixty cents, therefore its relativediscount percentage is 23.08 percent (i.e., %23.08=%100×$0.60/$2.60), asprovided in the relative discount percentage field 910. The replacementsupplemental product of a quarter pound hamburger has a discount oftwenty-five cents, therefore its relative discount percentage is 9.62percent (i.e., %9.62=%100×$0.251$2.60), as provided in the relativeprofit percentage field 912.

In some embodiments, the percentages provided in the fields 910, 912become the discount based scores for the possible supplemental products,as provided in profit based score fields 914, 916. For the six possiblesupplemental products provided in the record 900, the additionalsupplemental product of a medium soft drink has the highest score (i.e.,26.92). In some embodiments, the discount based scores in the fields914, 916 may be used as part of a composite score, as will be discussedin more detail below. The discount based scores may be weighted as partof the composite score so that the relative importance of the discountbased scoring approach as compared to the profit and popularity basedscoring approaches discussed above other can be controlled. The record900 includes a weighting factor of two, as provided in the weight field830 for the record 900. Therefore, the weighted discount based scoresfor the possible supplemental products listed in the fields 802, 808 arethe discount based scores provided in the fields 914, 916 multiplied bythe weight factor of two provided in the weight field 830. The weightedpopularity based scores for the possible supplemental products listed inthe fields 802, 808 are provided in weighted scores fields 918, 920 inthe record 900.

Now referring to FIG. 17, a composite score using the profit scoringapproach of FIG. 14, the popularity scoring approach of FIG. 15, and thediscount scoring approach of FIG. 16 is illustrated for a record 950.The record 950 is directed to the same three possible additionalsupplemental products and three possible replacement supplementalproducts previously discussed above. Therefore, the record includes thefields 802, 808, 810, and 812 previously discussed above.

The record 950 includes the weighted profits scores from the fields 832,834 in the record 800, the weighted popularity scores from the fields864, 868 in the record 850, and the weighted discount scores from thefields 918, 920 in the record 900, as illustrated in scoring fields 952and 954, 956 and 958, and 960 and 962, respectively, in the record 950.As previously discussed above, scores based on the profit based scoringapproach are weighted by a factor of four, scores based on thepopularity based scoring approach are weighted by a factor of three, andscores based on the discount based scoring approach are weighted by afactor of two. Thus, in this example, the profit based scores areconsidered to be relatively more important than both the popularitybased scores and the discount based scores and may influence the finalcomposite score more significantly than either of the popularity basedscores or the discount based scores.

The cumulative scores for each of the three possible additionalsupplemental products are provided in cumulative score field 964 whilethe cumulative scores for the three possible additional supplementalproduct are provided in cumulative score field 966. For example, thecumulative score for the possible supplemental product of cookies is140.96 (i.e., 140.96=66.67+47.37+26.92), as illustrated in the field964. Similarly, the cumulative score for the possible supplementalproduct of quarter pound hamburger cookies is 136.13 (i.e.,136.13=79.01+37.89+19.23), as illustrated in the field 966.

As shown in the record 950, the supplemental products range in scoresfrom 112.12 to 216.48. At any time during the scoring process, thesystem 200 may eliminate one or more potential supplemental productsfrom further consideration by “filtering” out supplemental productsbased on certain criteria. For example, a “filter” may dictate that noproduct having a profit score lower than some predetermined thresholdshould be included. A different filter may eliminate products that havebeen accepted by a user in the past as a supplemental product. Inaddition, filters may act to ensure that no disadvantageous product isoffered to a user or customer. Filters may be based on delivery costs ofproducts, current service times for products, offer relevancy, the timeto prepare a product for sale, or other factors.

In addition to filters, the system 200 may use elimination rules toeliminate certain products or product categories from furtherconsideration. Elimination rules function in a similar manner to filtersin that they limit one or more products from being considered orselected as supplemental products. For example, an elimination rulemight be used that instructs the controller 202 or a point-of-saleterminal never to offer bacon as a replacement supplemental product to auser if the user purchased a bacon cheeseburger. As another example, anelimination rule might instruct the controller 202 or a point-of-saleterminal never to offer a product to a user as a replacement productthat the user has already ordered or that the user is ordering duringthe current transaction. An elimination rule may prevent offers thathave previously been offered to a particular user or customer from beingmade again to the particular user or customer, thereby preventing theuser or customer from being able to expect that they will receive asupplemental product offer identical to a supplemental product offerreceived during a previous transaction.

Upon completion of the scoring of possible supplemental products duringthe step 302, one or more of the possible supplemental products may bechosen or selected during the step 304 as supplemental products, therebycompleting the step 104 of the method 100. One or more possiblesupplemental products may be chosen during the step 304 or the step 104.In addition to the filters and elimination rules, the system 200 mayforce or require designated products or types of products to be offeredas supplemental products. Such a requirement for a product to be offeredas a supplemental product will be referred to as a “forced option.” Forexample, during use of the method 100, the controller 202 or apoint-of-sale terminal may want to make sure that one additionalsupplemental product, one replacement or upgraded supplemental product,etc. are selected during the step 104 and offered for sale to a user,regardless of how one or more of the supplemental products or types ofsupplemental products scored. A “forced option” process accomplishesthis by “forcing,” for example, a replacement supplementary product tobe offered regardless of its score as compared to other types of offersor the scores of other products. It still may be the case that theforced option has the highest score of its type, even though that scoremay be significantly less than the score associated with an offer ofanother type.

In some embodiments a “weighted randomization” approach may be used torandomly select a supplemental product from a pool of potentialsupplemental products. According to these embodiments, each potentialsupplemental product in a group of possible supplemental products isselected in proportion to its score, such as its weighted cumulativescore, relative or as compared to the sum of all of the scoresassociated with the products that form for the pool of possiblesupplemental products. That is, each possible supplemental product in agroup of possible supplement products may be chosen as the supplementalproduct to offer for sale to a user, the chance of each possiblesupplemental product being chosen being dependent on its weighted score,such as a weighted cumulative score, relative to the sum of all of theweighted scores. For example, for the six possible supplemental productslisted in FIG. 17, each has a weighted cumulative score listed in thefield 964 or 966. The total of all of the weighted cumulative scores is900.01 (i.e., 900.01=140.96+112.02+216.48+136.13+128.61+165.81). Thus,the cookies, which have a cumulative score of 140.96, have a normalizedor relative percentage of 15.66 percent (i.e.,%15.66=%100×140.96/900.01), the ice cream cone has a normalized orrelative percentage of 12.45 percent (i.e., %12.45=%100×112.02/900.01),the medium soft drink has a normalized or relative percentage of 24.05percent (i.e., %24.05=%100×216.48/900.01), the quarter pound hamburgerhas a normalized or relative percentage of 15.13 percent (i.e.,%15.13=%100×136.13/900.01), the double-decker burger has a normalized orrelative percentage of 14.29 percent (i.e., %14.29=%100×128.61/900.01)and the order of large fries has a normalized or relative percentage of18.42 percent (i.e., (%18.42=(%100×165.81/900.01). The total of the sixrelative percentages for the six possible supplemental products total toone-hundred percent (i.e.,%100=%15.66+%12.45+%24.05+%15.13+%14.29+%18.42). In the weightedrandomization process for these six products, cookies will be randomlychosen as a supplemental product 15.66 percent of the time, an ice creamcone will be randomly chosen as a supplemental product 12.45 percent ofthe time, a medium soft drink will be randomly chosen as a supplementalproduct 24.05 percent of the time, a quarter pound hamburger will berandomly chosen as a supplemental product 15.13 percent of the time, adouble-decker burger will be randomly chosen as a supplemental product14.29 percent of the time, and an order of large fries will be randomlychosen as a supplemental product 18.42 percent of the time. It should benoted that, in some embodiments, non-weighted randomization processesmay also be used.

A weighted randomization approach helps protect retailers from losingsales at full or normal price by not offering the same product as asupplemental product all the time in response to given order, therebysimultaneously insuring that reasonably relevant offers for supplementalproducts are made the majority of the time to customers. Thus, customersmay not be able to predict which supplemental product will be offered tothe customer, thereby increasing the chances that the customer will buya desired product at normal price. In some embodiments, a managementoverride may alter the weighting of supplemental products temporarily orpermanently, such as when a manager knows that a particular product isout of stock or even no longer available.

In some embodiments, the controller 202 or a point-of-sale terminal mayuse flexible and dynamically developed scoring or other processes foridentifying or selecting supplemental products, thereby permitting thecontroller 202, point-of-sale terminal, or an administrator to decidewhich scoring processes to use and their sequence of operation. Changinguses and sequences of scoring processes can have positive effects on theoutcome of the offer generation process and overall user acceptancerates, profits, etc. of supplemental products. As more information islearned about user buying patterns, additional offer pool, scoringand/or filtering processes can be created and easily inserted into theprocess. For example, a filter based on individual employee (e.g.,cashier, check out clerk, etc.) skills may be introduced so as to filterout supplemental product offers for which the employee has shown apropensity to fail when making the supplemental product offer. Theconfiguration, operation and use of a method and system for motivatingemployees to provide or make supplemental product offers is described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/540,710 entitled METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR MOTIVATING AN EMPLOYEE TO PERFORM A BEHAVIOR RELATED TO AN UPSELL,all of which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, theconfiguration, operation and use of a method and system for providingpromotional offers via point-of-sale terminals is described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/538,751 entitled, DYNAMIC PROPAGATION OFPROMOTIONAL INFORMATION IN A NETWORK OF POINT-OF-SALE TERMINALS, all ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

Many different alternatives are available for selecting supplementalproducts or building a pool of possible supplemental products during thestep 104. For example, instead of taking an initial pool of supplementalproducts and pairing it down (a top-down approach), a bottom-up approachcould be taken in which a list of supplement products to offer is builtup over time or over transactions. A method for accomplishing this wouldbe rules-driven in a manner similar to the present invention. Thus,rather than starting with the complete selection of options and paringdown the options, the system could use the order content to select frompre-defined offers and then, only those products that individually scorewell during a transaction as compared, one at a time, with the currentorder content of the transaction may become supplemental products forthe transaction.

In some embodiments, a user may initiate the method 100 by pressing abutton, either dedicated or virtual, on a user device or point-of-saleterminal, asking for an offer for a supplemental product, swiping ashopper card, etc. By enabling the system 200 and/or the method 100 soas to be user initiated, any possibility of annoying or offending userswith supplementary product offers is greatly reduced, or even possiblyeliminated. Further, the user device or point-of-sale terminal could beused to present the supplementary product offer to the user. Forexample, the user device or point-of-sale terminal may include atouch-screen monitor on which supplementary product offers are presentedto the user. In addition, the user's selection or acceptance of asupplemental product may be received via a touch screen on the userdevice or point-of-sale terminal.

Now referring to FIG. 18, a representative block diagram of acontroller, such as the controller 202, or a point-of-sale terminal,such as the point-of-sale terminal 204 is illustrated. Theconfiguration, operation and use of a point-of-sale terminal forproviding offers is described in copending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/538,751 entitled, DYNAMIC PROPAGATION OF PROMOTIONAL INFORMATIONIN A NETWORK OF POINT-OF-SALE TERMINALS, all of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

The controller 202 may include a processor, microprocessor or microchip,central processing unit, or computer 1250 that is in communication withor otherwise uses or includes one or more communication ports 1252 forcommunicating with user devices and/or other devices. For example, ifthe controller 202 is connected to the user device 208 via an Ethernetlocal area network, the user device 206 via a cellular telephonenetwork, and the user device 208 via a Token Ring type local areanetwork, the controller 202 may have an Ethernet adapter as onecommunication port to allow the controller 202 to communicate with theuser device 202, a connection to a cellular telephone network as anothercommunication port to allow the controller 202 to communicate with theuser device 206 and a Token Ring adapter to allow the controller 202 tocommunicate with the user device 208. Of course, in some embodiments,the controller 202 and other devices in the system 200 may user wirelesscommunication to communicate with each other and to exchangeinformation.

The controller 202 may also include an internal clock element 1254 tomaintain an accurate time and date for the controller 202 create timestamps for messages, information, indications, etc. generated via thecontroller 202 or received by the controller 202, etc.

If desired, the controller 202 may include one or more output devices1256 such as a printer, infrared or other transmitter, antenna, audiospeaker, display screen or monitor, text to speech converter, etc., aswell as one or more input devices 1258 such as a bar code reader orother optical scanner, infrared or other receiver, antenna, magneticstripe reader, image scanner, roller ball, touch pad, joystick, touchscreen, microphone, computer keyboard, computer mouse, etc. In addition,the controller 202 may include a voice recognition system or interactivevoice response unit as an input device 1258 to aid in or enablereceiving and processing of transaction information, messages,indications, etc. The controller 202 may also include a fingerprintscanner or reader, a retinal scanner, a voice analyzer, or otherbiometrics data input device as an input device 1258 to allow thecontroller 202 to identify users. If desired, the controller 202 mayalso function as a user device and/or point-of-sale terminal.

In addition to the above, the controller 202 may include a memory ordata storage device 1260 to store information, software, databases,device drivers, customer information, transaction information, productinformation, etc. The memory or data storage device 260 preferablycomprises an appropriate combination of magnetic, optical and/orsemiconductor memory, and may include, for example, Random Access Memory(RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), a tape drive, flash memory, a floppy diskdrive, a ZIP™ disk drive, a compact disc and/or a hard disk. Theprocessor 250 and the data storage device 260 in the controller 202 mayeach be, for example: (i) located entirely within a single computer orother computing device; or (ii) connected to each other by a remotecommunication medium, such as a serial port cable, telephone line orradio frequency transceiver. In one embodiment, the controller 202 maycomprise one or more computers that are connected to a remote servercomputer for maintaining databases.

A conventional personal computer or workstation with sufficient memoryand processing capability may be used as the controller 202. In oneembodiment, the controller 202 operates as or includes a web server foran Internet environment. The controller 202 preferably transmits andreceives data related to transactions and is capable of high volumetransaction processing, performing a significant number of mathematicalcalculations in processing communications and database searches. APentium™ microprocessor such as the Pentium III™ microprocessor,manufactured by Intel Corporation may be used for the processor 1250.Equivalent processors are available from Motorola, Inc., AMD, or SunMicrosystems, Inc. The processor 1250 may also comprise one or moremicroprocessors, central processing units, computers, computer systems,etc.

While specific implementations and hardware configurations forpoint-of-sale terminals, user devices, controllers, and contact deviceshave been illustrated, it should be noted that other implementations andhardware configurations are possible and that no specific implementationor hardware configuration is needed. Therefore, many different types ofimplementations or hardware configurations can be used in the system 200and with the method 100 and the methods disclosed herein are not limitedto any specific hardware configuration for the system 200.

Software may be resident and operating or operational on the controller202. The software may be stored on the data storage device 1260 and mayinclude some or all of the following: a control program 1262 foroperating the controller 202; a product database 1264 for storinginformation about products or services; a customer or user database 1266for storing information about one or more users or customers; and atransaction database 1268 for storing information regarding to sales ofproducts or services.

Each of the databases 1264, 1266 and 1268 and their use and potentialdata structure will be discussed in more detail below. As will beunderstood by those skilled in the art, the schematic illustrations andaccompanying descriptions of the databases presented herein areexemplary arrangements for stored representations of information. Anumber of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggested bythe tables shown. Similarly, the illustrated entries of the databasesrepresent exemplary information only. Thus, those skilled in the artwill understand that the number and content of the entries can bedifferent from those illustrated herein. Not all of the databases 1264,1266 and 1268 will be used or needed in every embodiment of the method100 or the system 200. Furthermore, some embodiments of the method 100or the system 200 may use none or only some of the databases 1264, 1266and 1268. Of course, there may be embodiments of the method 100 or thesystem 200 where all of the databases 1264, 1266, and 1268 are used.

The control program 1262 may control the processor 1250. The processor1250 preferably performs instructions of the control program 1262, andthereby operates in accordance with the present invention, andparticularly in accordance with the methods described in detail herein.The control program 1262 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiledand/or encrypted format. The control program 1262 furthermore includesprogram elements that may be necessary, such as an operating system, adatabase management system and device drivers for allowing the processor1250 to interface with peripheral devices, databases, etc. Appropriateprogram elements are known to those skilled in the art, and need not bedescribed in detail herein. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the instructions of the control program 1262 may be read intoa main memory from another computer-readable medium, such as from a ROMto RAM. Execution of sequences of the instructions in the controlprogram 1262 causes the processor 1250 to perform the process stepsdescribed herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry maybe used in place of, or in combination with, software instructions forimplementation of some or all of the methods of the present invention.Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware and software.

As previously discussed above, the product database 1264 can be used tostore information and data regarding products, services, etc. Theproduct database 1264 may be used, populated, accessed, and/or updatedby a controller, a point-of-sale terminal, a user device, etc. duringany of the steps of the method 100. A tabular representation of apossible implementation of, or data structure for, the product database1264 is illustrated in FIG. 19.

The product database 1264 preferably includes a product/serviceidentifier field 1300 which may contain identifiers or other identifyinginformation for products or services, a product/service name ordescription field 1302 which may include descriptive information for theproducts and services identified in the field 1300, and a category field1304 which may include information regarding the category for theproducts or services identified in the field 1300. In some embodiments,the product database 1264 may also include information regarding thenumber or amount available or in inventory of the products identified inthe field 1300, the retail price of the products or services identifiedin the field 1300 in a price field 1306, the cost of the products orservices identified in the field 1300 in a cost field 1308, etc.

While the product database 1264 illustrated in FIG. 19 providesinformation for five products 1310, 1312, 1314, 1316, 1318, 1320, 1322and 1324 identified by the product identifiers “P-0984-90234,”“P-0283-17234,” “P-1230-89127,” “P-8902-29037,” “P-0928-09823,”“P-5678-12345,” “P-7654-09876” and “P-0123-99887,” respectively, in theproduct identifier field 1300, there is no limit to the number ofproducts or services for which information can be stored in the productdatabase 1264 and different fields may be used in the product database1264.

As previously discussed above, the user database 1266 can be used tostore information and data regarding customers, users, etc. The userdatabase 1266 may be used, populated, accessed, and/or updated by acontroller, a point-of-sale terminal, a user device, etc. during any ofthe steps in the method 100. A tabular representation of a possibleimplementation of, or data structure for, the user database 1266 isillustrated in FIG. 20. A user database may be used to identify acustomer for a variety of purposes, including signing up agreements,tracking the customer's purchases, providing benefits to a customer,etc. Information about the customer may also be stored in the userdatabase, such as the customer's name, mailing address, email address,shopping preferences, telephone number, purchasing history, credit cardlimit, etc.

The user database 1266 preferably includes a user identifier field 1350which may contain identifiers or other identifying information for usersor customers, potential users or customers, etc., a name field 1352which may contain information regarding the names of the users orcustomers identified in the field 1350, a contact information field 1354which may contain contact information, such as postal addresses,telephone numbers, facsimile telephone number, email addresses, etc. forthe users or customers identified in the field 1350, and a paymentidentifier field 1356 which may contain information regarding creditcards, debit cards, frequent shopping cards, bank accounts, etc.associated with the users or customers identified in the field 1350.While the user database 1266 illustrated in FIG. 20 provides informationfor seven users or customers 1358, 1360, 1362, 1364, 1366, 1368 and 1370identified by the user identifiers “C-12-12-123434,” “C-49-12-437952,”“C-47-83-971234,” “C-92-46-982734,” “C-09-23-178345,” “C-03-04-196337”and “C-05-12-100194,” respectively, in the user identifier field 1350,there is no limit to the number of users or customers for whichinformation can be stored in the user database 1266 and different fieldsmay be used in the user database 1266.

As previously discussed above, the transaction database 1268 can be usedto store information and data regarding transactions for products andservices. The transaction database 1268 may be used, populated,accessed, and/or updated by a controller, a point-of-sale device, a userdevice, etc. during any of the steps of the method 100. A tabularrepresentation of a possible implementation of, or data structure for,the transaction database 1268 is illustrated in FIG. 21.

The transaction database 1268 preferably includes a transactionidentifier field 1400 which may contain identifiers or other identifyinginformation for transactions initiated or conducted by users orcustomers, a date/time field 1402 which may contain informationregarding the date and time of the transactions identified in the field1400, a user or customer identifier field 1404 which may containidentifiers or other identifying information for users or customersinvolved in the transactions identified in the field 1400, and aproduct/service field 1406 which may list one or more products orservices involved in the transactions identified in the field 1400. Ifdesired, a transaction price or total field may also be used with thetransaction database to store pricing, customer tender amount, or otherinformation regarding the price of the transactions identified in thefield 1400.

In some embodiments, the transaction database 1268 may also storeidentifiers associated with point-of-sale terminals or other devices,retailers, manufacturers, employees, supplemental products, etc.involved in a transaction. In addition, the transaction database 1268may also include location information for the controller 202,point-of-sale terminal, user device, employee, retailer, user, etc.involved in the transaction. In some embodiments, the transactiondatabase 1268 may also include a status field which may storeinformation regarding whether or not the users identified in the field1404 accepted or rejected an offer to purchase a supplemental product.The status field preferably uses at least three values: “ACCEPTED,”“REJECTED,” and “N/A” (for those transactions with no correspondingsupplementary product offers). For those embodiments where more than onesupplementary product is offered, the status field may also storeinformation relating to which supplementary product was accepted orrejected by a user. Information in the status field may be particularlyuseful in popularity scoring of potential supplemental products to offerto a user.

While the transaction database 1268 illustrated in FIG. 21 providesinformation for five transactions 1408, 1410, 1412, 1414 and 1416identified by the transaction identifiers “T-1-9348275,” “T-2-8973462,”“T-3-9087234,” “T-4-9087234” and “T-5-9087234,” respectively, in thetransaction identifier field 1400, there is no limit to the number oftransactions for which information can be stored in the transactionsdatabase 1268 and different fields may be used in the transactiondatabase 1268.

Now referring to FIG. 22, a representative block diagram of a userdevice, such as the user device 208, is illustrated. The user device 208may include a processor, microchip, central processing unit, or computer1400 that is in communication with or otherwise uses or includes one ormore communication ports 1402 for communicating with the controller 202and/or with a point-of-sale terminal and/or other devices. For example,the user device 208 may have an infrared or other transmitter as onecommunication port to allow the user device 208 to communicate with thecontroller 202. In addition, if the user device 202 is connected to thepoint-of-sale terminal 204 via an Ethernet local area network, the userdevice 208 will preferably include an Ethernet adapter as acommunication port to allow the user device 208 to communicate with thepoint-of-sale terminal 204. The user device 208 may also include a RF orother wireless transmitter as a communication port 1402 forcommunicating with the controller 202 and other devices in the system200.

The user device 208 may include one or more output devices 1404 forconveying information, messages to a user, etc., such as a printer,audio speaker, infrared or other transmitter, antenna, display screen ormonitor, text to speech converter, etc., as well as one or more inputdevices 1406 for receiving information, messages, or indications from auser, such as a bar code reader or other optical scanner, infrared orother receiver, antenna, magnetic stripe reader, image scanner, rollerball, touch pad, joystick, touch screen, microphone, computer keyboard,computer mouse, etc. A user device 208 may include a voice recognitionsystem or interactive voice response unit as an input device 1406 to aidin receiving and processing messages, transaction information, etc. Theuser device 208 may also include a fingerprint scanner or reader, aretinal scanner, a voice analyzer, or other biometrics data input deviceas an input device 1406.

In addition to the above, the user device 208 may include a memory ordata storage device 1408 to store transaction information, software,databases, device drivers, customer information, customeridentifications, product information, messages, etc. The memory or datastorage device 1408 preferably comprises an appropriate combination ofmagnetic, optical and/or semiconductor memory, and may include, forexample, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), a tapedrive, flash memory, a floppy disk drive, a ZIP™ disk drive, a compactdisc and/or a hard disk.

The user device 208 may also include an internal clock element 1410 tomaintain an accurate time and date for the user device 208, create timestamps for information, transaction information, messages, etc.generated or received via the user device 208, etc.

As previously discussed above, possible user devices include a personalcomputer, portable computer, mobile or fixed user station, workstation,network terminal or server, telephone, beeper, kiosk, dumb terminal,personal digital assistant, facsimile machine, etc. If desired, the userdevice 208 may also function as the controller 202 or a point-of-saleterminal.

The foregoing description is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous modificationsand changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and processshown and described above. Accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be considered as falling within the scope of theinvention as defined by the claims which follow. Further, even thoughonly certain embodiments have been described in detail, those havingordinary skill in the art will certainly understand that manymodifications are possible without departing from the teachings thereof.All such modifications are intended to be encompassed within thefollowing claims.

The present invention may be embodied as a computer program developedusing an object oriented language that allows the modeling of complexsystems with modular objects to create abstractions that arerepresentative of real world, physical objects and theirinterrelationships. However, it would be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that the invention as described herein can beimplemented in many different ways using a wide range of programmingtechniques as well as general purpose hardware systems or dedicatedcontrollers. In addition, many, if not all, of the steps for the methodsdescribed above are optional or can be combined or performed in one ormore alternative orders or sequences without departing from the scope ofthe present invention and the claims should not be construed as beinglimited to any particular order or sequence, unless specificallyindicated.

While specific implementations and hardware configurations for thecontroller 202, point-of-sale terminal 204, and user device 208 havebeen illustrated, it should be noted that other implementations andhardware configurations are possible and that no specific implementationor hardware configuration is needed. Therefore, many different types ofimplementations or hardware configurations can be used in the system 200and with the method 100 and the methods disclosed herein are not limitedto any specific hardware configuration.

Each of the methods described above can be performed on a singlecomputer, computer system, microprocessor, etc. In addition, two or moreof the steps in each of the methods described above could be performedon two or more different computers, computer systems, microprocessors,etc., some or all of which may be locally or remotely configured. Themethods can be implemented in any sort or implementation of computersoftware, program, sets of instructions, code, ASIC, or speciallydesigned chips, logic gates, or other hardware structured to directlyeffect or implement such software, programs, sets of instructions orcode. The computer software, program, sets of instructions or code canbe storable, writeable, or savable on any computer usable or readablemedia or other program storage device or media such as a floppy or othermagnetic or optical disk, magnetic or optical tape, CD-ROM, DVD, punchcards, paper tape, hard disk drive, ZIP™ disk, flash or optical memorycard, microprocessor, solid state memory device, RAM, EPROM, or ROM.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat directly or indirectly participates in providing instructions to aprocessor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, includingbut not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmissionmedia. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magneticdisks. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), whichtypically constitutes the main memory. Transmission media includecoaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires thatcomprise a system bus coupled to a processor. Transmission media canalso take the form of acoustic, electrical or electromagnetic waves,such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR)data communications.

The connections or communications between user devices, customerdevices, the controller, point-of-sale terminals, retailer devices, etc.discussed herein is only meant to be generally representative of cable,computer, telephone, or other communication or data networks and methodsfor purposes of elaboration and explanation of the present. Theconnections are also intended to be representative of, and include allor a part of, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and other privately orpublicly operated networks, including wide area networks, local areanetworks, data communication networks or connections, intranets,routers, satellite links or networks, microwave links or networks,cellular telephone or radio links, fiber optic transmission lines, ISDNlines, T1 lines, etc. In addition, as used herein, the terms “computer,”“user device,” “terminal,” “client,” “device” and “client device” aregenerally interchangeable and are meant to be construed broadly and toinclude, but not be limited to, all clients, client devices or machines,personal digital assistants and palm top computers, cash registers,terminals, computers, point-of-sale devices, processors, servers, etc.connected or connectable to a computer or data communications networkand all devices on which Internet-enabled software, such as the NETSCAPECOMMUNICATOR™ or NAVIGATOR™ browsers, MOSAIC™ browser, or MICROSOFTINTERNET EXPLORER™ browsers, can operate or be run. The term “browser”should also be interpreted as including Internet-enabled software andcomputer or client software that enables or allows communication over acomputer network and Internet-enabled or World Wide Web enabled,monitored, or controlled devices such as WebTV™ devices, householdappliances, phones, etc.

The words “comprise,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “include,” “including,”and “includes” when used in this specification and in the followingclaims are intended to specify the presence of stated features,elements, integers, components, or steps, but they do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, elements, integers,components, steps, or groups thereof.

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a controller device, informationfor a transaction; determining, by the controller device, a pool of atleast one potential supplemental product; scoring, by the controllerdevice, at least one potential supplemental product in said pool, basedon (i) the information for the transaction and (ii) one or more of thefollowing types of information: respective profitability of at least onepotential supplemental product, respective popularity of at least onepotential supplemental product, one or more preferences of the user, arespective number of at least one potential supplemental product ininventory, a business rule for scoring potential supplemental products,and a purchase history of the user; selecting for said transaction, bythe controller device based on the scoring, at least one supplementalproduct from said pool; determining, by the controller device, an offeramount for said at least one selected supplemental product; providing,by the controller device, an indication of said at least onesupplemental product selected from said pool and an indication of theoffer amount.
 2. The method of claim 1, in which the controller deviceis in communication with at least one of a user device, a point-of-saleterminal, a web server, and a retailer device.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein providing the indication comprises: providing, by the controllerdevice, the indication of said at least one supplemental productselected from said pool and the indication of the offer amount, to atleast one of a retailer device, a web server, a point-of-sale terminal,and a user device.
 4. The method of claim 1, in which the transactioncomprises a purchase of a product, the transaction being conducted by auser and a retailer via a web site.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by the controller device, an indication of atleast one business rule for scoring potential supplemental products; andstoring the indication of the at least one business rule.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: maintaining a transaction database;maintaining a database of potential supplemental products; andmaintaining a user database.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising one of the following: receiving an indication of anacceptance of an offer to purchase said selected at least onesupplemental product; or receiving an indication of a rejection of anoffer to purchase said selected at least one supplemental product. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein said scoring uses at least one of thefollowing: a profit based scoring approach; a popularity based scoringapproach; scoring based on preparation time of one or more products;scoring based on inventory level of one or more products; a discountbased scoring approach; and a composite scoring approach.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein said determining a pool of at least one potentialsupplemental product comprises: identifying at least one productcategory involved in said transaction; determining at least onecomplementary product category; and selecting a pool of at least onesupplemental product.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein saiddetermining a pool of at least one potential supplemental productcomprises: determining at least one potential replacement product; andselecting a pool of at least one supplemental product.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said transaction information includes at least one ofthe following: a transaction subtotal amount; a user identifier; a userdevice identifier; a payment identifier; a destination identifier; alocation identifier; a point-of-sale terminal location identifier; anemployee identifier; a transaction identifier; a product identifier; aretailer identifier; a point-of-sale terminal identifier; a retaileridentifier; a time for said transaction; a date for said transaction;credit history of a user; characteristics of a user; weatherinformation; time of day information; day of week information; holidayinformation; competitor information; user demographic information;information regarding a user's brand loyalty; information regarding auser's brand indifference; product quantity information; productinventory information; and a price for a product being purchased duringsaid transaction.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said selectingcomprises choosing a supplemental product that has a corresponding scorehigher than at least one other potential supplemental product.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises choosing asupplemental product having a higher relative score than each of aplurality of potential supplemental products.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein said determining the offer amount for said at least one selectedsupplemental product comprises identifying a predetermined offer amountfor said at least one selected supplemental product.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said indication includes an offer to sell said at leastone supplemental product selected from said pool.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said indication includes an offer to sell said at leastone supplemental product selected from said pool for the offer amountduring said transaction.
 17. A non-transitory computer readable mediumstoring instructions configured to direct a computing device to performa method, the method comprising: receiving, by a controller device,information for a transaction; determining, by the controller device, apool of at least one potential supplemental product; scoring, by thecontroller device, at least one potential supplemental product in saidpool, based on (i) the information for the transaction and (ii) one ormore of the following types of information: respective profitability ofat least one potential supplemental product, respective popularity of atleast one potential supplemental product, one or more preferences of theuser, a respective number of at least one potential supplemental productin inventory, a business rule for scoring potential supplementalproducts, and a purchase history of the user; selecting for saidtransaction, by the controller device based on the scoring, at least onesupplemental product from said pool; determining, by the controllerdevice, an offer amount for said at least one selected supplementalproduct; providing, by the controller device, an indication of said atleast one supplemental product selected from said pool and an indicationof the offer amount.
 18. An apparatus for conducting a transaction,comprising: a processor; a communication port connected to saidprocessor; and a storage device connected to said process, said storagedevice storing instructions configured to direct the processor toperform: receiving information for a transaction; determining a pool ofat least one potential supplemental product; scoring at least onepotential supplemental product in said pool, based on (i) theinformation for the transaction and (ii) one or more of the followingtypes of information: respective profitability of at least one potentialsupplemental product, respective popularity of at least one potentialsupplemental product, one or more preferences of the user, a respectivenumber of at least one potential supplemental product in inventory, abusiness rule for scoring potential supplemental products, and apurchase history of the user; selecting for said transaction, based onthe scoring, at least one supplemental product from said pool;determining, an offer amount for said at least one selected supplementalproduct; providing an indication of said at least one supplementalproduct selected from said pool and an indication of the offer amount.